DMG Services

Took my deposit and showed up for 1 day of work and never saw him again. I have been calling him for days and emailed him with little luck. I have to take this guy to small claims court. The company is registered to DEREK GARDNER | 267 498 8435 and he is a crook. I made a huge mistake hiring him and he now has my deposit.

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I used Derek for a job before and he did a good job at a good price.  I called him back for another job on a house I was flipping.  He needed money when he was scheduled but the bank postponed settlement for one month.  I gave him a check for $800.  At the start of the job he wanted another $800 which I gave him.  He also needed $1400 for a personal expense that I also paid.  In three weeks he partially painted 3 rooms.  He then claimed I wanted him to work for free since I had paid him in full for the job and he still had a lot to do.  The house is 2100 square feet and he offered to paint it when he had time.  I fired him and cut my losses.  I had to hire another contractor to finish the job.  He left trash all over the house and his work is sloppy.

Monday he called at 7:00 a.m. - wanted to make sure I had left a check for him. I had a check for $420 on the refrigerator for him - he charged me $20 extra for paying by check.  This was 1/3 of his payment ... He called me around 2:00 p.m. to ask which paint went on which walls.  (I had bought the paint). I arrived home at 4:30 and he and his assistant (when I interviewed him he told me it would be just him - no one to help him and he needed the $$), had taped around the doors in the entry way and had started to pain the walls of the powder room.  By the looks of what had been accomplished by 2 guys, he got there at 2:00 and only worked for 2.5 hours.
He started by rolling the walls - not painting the ceiling, which I am told is the way painters should proceed with ceilings first.
Tuesday - didn't hear from him so at 9:30 a.m. - I called him.  He said he was "just about to call."  His truck broke down and he was headed to the mechanic.  He said he would call within the hour to let me know what is what.  By 11:30 I still had not hear back from him - he said his truck would not be fixed until tomorrow - he said he would be at my house around 11:00/12:00 to paint on Wednesday.  I asked him about the impending snow storm - he said that if it's a bad snow storm, he would not be there.  I told him I understood.
Wednesday - called him around noon. He was headed to pick up his truck and would be out to my house.  At 4:30 he called and told me that he knew I was upset about putting my dogs in daycare ($50/day) and that he would be refunding $50 to me because he never made it to my house. He said he had a $50 bill that he planned to leave at my house, but there was traffic, so he'd get it to me.
Thursday - big snow storm.  I am working from home - by 9:30 - no call - no word - and he had said he would not come if it's snowing .... so I spread out with my work and my printer in my living room - at 11:30 he shows up on my door step.  He didn't call - he comes to work, he says.  I tell him that I wasn't expecting him, my dogs are at home, and my work is down stairs and I wasn't prepared for him to come.  Told him it would have been better if he had called.  He said: "I didn't know if you were at work and if your dogs were at day care."  Again, you could call me.  I tell him he can't work today because I am in the middle of working myself - so he leaves. (Oh, and he doesn't have the $50 to hand to me either)...
Friday - I put my dogs in day care and on my way to work at 7:30 a.m., I call him.  I say: I am out of the house, the dogs are out of the house.  He assures me he will be there working. I call at 12:00 to make sure everything is ok.  Yes, they are painting the entry way and the kitchen (9' of back splash and 9' above the cabinets).
I arrive after picking up my dogs at 6:15 (daycare closes at 7:00 p.m.) at my house at 6:37 - his truck is in my driveway - he has a DOG in the truck - probably freezing all day long...
My front door is locked - he opens the door and my dogs go into their house - he starts yelling about wet paint and I need to get my dogs out of there.  I am p***** and yell back that it's Friday night at 6:30, I would assume that he is on his way out the door and not still painting.  He tells me if I don't want him to finish the job - that's fine with him. He storms out and yells, "have fun finding a painter."
He storms back in as he can't find his keys.  He tells me I am unreasonable.  He had a crew with him on Thursday and I would not let them work.  I told him he showed up at 11:30 a.m. - what type of a day's work is that?  He says that working from 11:30 until 6:30 is a day's work ... He has finished nothing.  He hasn't put any paint on the ceilings.  He started with walls and then did some trim.  His painting has drip marks, paint on my floors, and although I asked him to spackle and fill in nail holes, - they just painted over stuff and didn't do any of it.
He told me I am unreasonable and impossible to work for ...
Last time I hire from Craig's List.